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The last thing Barack Obama needs is another Washington insider as his chief of staff.

Both Tom Daschle and Leon Panetta are dedicated public officials but they are denizens of D.C. and the president needs an outsider committed to change to run the White House. In the song, Rhinestone Cowboy sung by Glen Campbell, songwriter Larry Weiss wrote, "there's been a load of compromisin' on the road to my horizon." Barack Obama has tried compromise again and again and has been slapped in the face by Republicans every time he has offered them his hand. The president needs advisers committed to cleaning up a dirty deal-making system. Cutting deals behind the scenes is not part of the Obama brand. At least, it wasn't in 2008.

Americans sent Barack Obama to Washington because they believed that he would change Washington. His commitment to shaking things up and changing the capital's culture will make or break the second half of his first term.

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